Madam Speaker, I am pleased to speak to Bill C-7 this evening from British Columbia.
Before I begin with my formal speech, I want to thank the member for Delta, the Minister of Employment. I was in the House of Commons when she gave her heartfelt speech during earlier periods of this debate. What became very clear is that the minister has grave concerns about the issues facing people with disabilities in respect to Bill C-7.
What struck me about this legislation was that the Liberal government is rushing ahead to put forward these changes without any corresponding framework or financial commitments to support palliative care. In many cases, this is going to leave Canadians without an option to continue their lives under palliative care, which is very concerning for me.
Conservatives are committed to ensuring that this legislation, first and foremost, includes safeguards to protect Canada's most vulnerable. The end of a person's life is a vulnerable time for anyone. As parliamentarians we have a responsibility to not only speak for those who do not have a voice, but first of all, to listen to the many important voices in our community that have something to say about this.
The government has been rushing this legislation and failing to consult with physicians, caregivers, disability rights advocates and the indigenous communities. Dr. Thomas Fung, the lead physician for Siksika Nation, where he has been a family physician for the past 13 years, recently spoke about the lack of access to services and care faced by many first nations in remote communities. He told a story about a patient who suffers from a lung disease that causes him to become easily short of breath, even when doing simple household tasks. This patient uses a walker, but cannot walk for more than a couple of minutes without gasping for breath.
Dr. Fung says that his patient would improve greatly with home oxygen, but regretfully, his lab values on testing fall just short of qualifying for funding through non-insured health benefits for first nations. Dr. Fung is telling us that his patient does not have the finances to afford home oxygen. While the man's condition is incurable, he could certainly have an improved quality of life if he had access to funding to support his home oxygen. Dr. Fung says, under Bill C-7, his patient would qualify for assisted death, when it should be clear to all that there are other ways to relieve this man's suffering to improve his quality of life.
Patients like Dr. Fung's deserve better. In a country as developed and resourceful as Canada, we cannot allow ourselves to abandon people like this. Our health care system is the pride of many Canadians, but that is because of the universality of access to life-saving treatments, not the universal admissibility to a physician-administered death.
Because the Liberal government is not listening, I want to give voice in the House to the concerns expressed by Mr. Tyler White, who is a member of the Blackfoot Confederacy and Treaty 7 in Alberta. He is also the CEO of Siksika's health services.
He said this of Bill C-7, “Let us be clear. MAID with its administration of a lethal substance with the intent to end a person's life is countercultural to our indigenous culture and practices. Our concept of health and wellness does not include the intentional ending of one's life. We recognize the dignity [of life] from its beginning to natural death, and efforts to suggest to our people that MAID is an appropriate end to life is a form of neo-colonialism. Extraordinary efforts have been made in suicide prevention in our communities and the expansion of MAID sends a contradictory message to our peoples that some individuals should receive suicide prevention, while others suicide assistance. Our consistent message to our youth has been that suicide is not the answer to the difficulties and challenges we face as people. Bill C-7 sends a conflicting message in direct opposition to ours.”
“Another grave concern for Bill C-7 in its current form is the absence of protection for individuals working in our communities who do not wish to participate in MAID. We believe that our people should not be coerced to participate in non-indigenous practices against our conscience and will. And it is the kind of oppression that has been the source of much trauma in our history. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada calls upon those who can effect change within the Canadian health care system to recognize the value of aboriginal healing practices and for respecting indigenous people's right to self-determination in spiritual matters, including the right to practise our own traditions and customs. Bill C-7 should be amended such that those who opt to abstain from participating in MAID directly and indirectly will be protected to do so without discrimination in their employment in the health care system.”
Bill C-7 is a matter of life or death, and the Liberals are racing to remove safeguards that just a few years ago were deemed essential.
Conservatives are committed to defending conscience rights for professionals. We are seeking reasonable amendments that will protect the vulnerable, like preserving the reflection period and making sure that MAID is exclusive and patient-requested, and never a matter of coercion or pressure.
More than 1,000 physicians have spoken out, addressing the problems with Bill C-7. Countless disability rights advocates and first nations communities have testified to the issues this legislation will have on them. We owe it to those Canadians to listen, to act and to fix this legislation so that they can live with dignity.
Finally, over the summer I conducted a survey and heard back from hundreds of constituents in my riding regarding this bill. Two things were very clear. First, that there is disagreement over this legislation. Some people are okay with what the government is doing, but many, and in my riding the majority, are not. Second, everyone agrees that in conjunction with legislation such as this, there should be expanded supports for palliative care, for giving people all of the options to make the best choice and in many cases to preserve their life.